Livestock barn



June 29, 1965 p MCMURRAY LIVESTOCK BARN 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 28,1962 INVENTOR. P M uliiPA 7 June 29, 1965 P. H. MOMURRAY 3,1 7

' LIVESTOCK BARN 7 Filed May 28. 1962 s Sheets-Sheet '2- INVENTOR. P H IMURRA Y June 29, 1965 p. H. MOMURRAY 3, 7

LIVESTOCK BARN 7 Filed May 28. 1962 f 5 Sheets-Sheet s INYENTOR. 7"? A/.M Mule/Q11 y feed handling by manual if not entirely eliminated.

United States Patent 3,191,577 LIVESTOCK BARN Paul H. McMurray, R0. Box126, Delphi, Ind. Filed May 28, 1962, Ser. No. 198,030 6 Claims. (Cl.119-16) This invention relates to stock barns and more particularly tosuch a barn as is most suitable for raising pigs from the time they areborn until they are marketable s1ze.

The basic concept of the invention resides in the provision of a barnwhich will take care of all of the various requirements of hogs or pigsas the case may be from the time they are farrowed, throughthe periodwhen they are being fattened for market and to the time of marketing,the barn itself being a small enough unit that a farmer of average meansand having average facilities, can avail of a unit hereof or a series ofsuch units in accordance with his ability to take care of the same andoperate a stock raising operation along the lines suggested hereinafter.

Generally speaking, the basic concept of this invention is to providewhat is essentially a circular enclosure within Which the hogs may bepenned in individual pens, providing for farrowing in such pens,thereafter changing the enclosure into a single pen and providingfeeding and ventilating means as well as manure removal means toaccommodate for all of the various phases of hog raising particularly.

Some of the basic problems in raising hogs, of course reside in the factthat a good many different diseases are periodically encountered in suchoperation, thenecessity to have a substantial amount of help for feedingpurposes, and an obvious advantage in fattening on a more rapid basisthan has heretofore been contemplated, is within the clear contemplationhereof. and provided by the facilities described herein.

Some of the fundamental features of the invention reside in the abilityto supply feed on an automatic basis, maintain the stock insegregatedareas where necessary, provide for the removal of manureas is necessarywithout manpower requirements of any substantial nature and.

further to provide ventilation and thus a suitable environ ment in whichdisease factors are reduced if not entirely eliminated.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a principal object of this inventionto provide a stock barn of the class described, which is designed forerection in a unit of suitable size so that the same will provide for aneconomic number of hogs to be raised therein, satisfactorily feed thehogs being usable to the full extent for each individual group of hogs,and thus enabling the raising of any desired multiple of hogs within thecapacity of each stock barn as herein described. j v

A further object of this invention is to provide means for feeding hogswhich will greatly facilitate handling feed, by providing a centralstorage bin arranged in such a manner as to deliver feed to hogs whichin turn are able to obtain the feed in the necessary quantities, wherebymeans is reduced to a minimum Yet another object of this invention is toprovide a hog barn of the class described, wherein a series of pens areradially arranged in the enclosure contemplated hereby, said pens beingprovided for farrowing purposes, and when farrowing is accomplished, thepens can be in effect elimi- Patented June 29, 1965 ice nated by raisingthe closures constituting the same and thus providing a large area overwhich the pigs can roam and have access to feed and water.

Another important object of this invention is to pro vide manure removalmeans which eliminate the necessity to handle the same in the usualmanual manner, by reason of the fact that a suitable floor constructionis provided which will facilitate the gathering of the manure, themanure is transported to a place remote from the floor, compressed andavailable for fertilizing purposes thereafter.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a novel structure,embodying elements which are easily assembled and disassembled as may benecessary, all the various factors being designed for productionmanufacture whereby large numbers of the barns contemplated hereby maybe erected in a very quick manner and supported with a minimum amount offoundation preparation.

These and other objects will be accomplished as set forth in thespecification appended hereto and disclosed in the drawings wherein:

'FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view taken about on the line 11 ofFIGURE 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 2 is a transverse sectional view of the dis closure of FIGURE 1illustrating the relationship of the various parts and the arrangementthereof.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken about on the line 3-3 ofFIGURE 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken about on the line 44 ofFIGURE 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken about on theline 5-5 of FIGURE 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2 particularly, the

.barn of this invention is shown as being of generally circularconfiguration and supported upon peripheral posts 1, there being four ofthese shown and a central post 2, suitably driven into the ground orother location and spaced about as indicated herein.

The barn itself is a circular enclosure as is suggested, including aperipheral wall 3 which is in turn supported on the upper ends of theposts 1, and in turn has engaged therewith a conically shaped roof 4sloping upwardly toward the center and having an opening 5 at the upperend thereof for purposes which will be subsequently set forth.

Suitably arranged within the wall 3, which is shown as being of acorrugated type, are the floors designated 6 and 7 generally, the floor6 being what may be termed a solid floor in which a suitable number ofsegments such as is indicated in FIGURE 2 and denoted 8 are provided,these being substantially identical and including flanged edges 9 bywhich adjoiningpanels or segments 8 may be connected together. The outeredges obviously will be supported in a suitable manner by engagementwith the wall 3 and the posts 1 supporting the same and at the centerengaging a sump denoted It), the sump 10 in turn being supported at 11on the post 2. Thus the segments 8 form a continuous circular floorwhich as shown in FIGURE 1 slopes toward the sump 10 for purposes whichwill be subsequently set forth. Preferably this floor is porcelainenamel coated and is itended to provide a means to collect manure whichis dropped on the floor 7 now to be described.

The floor 7 is similarly formed to the floor 6 just previously describedin that this floor 7 is formed in segments denoted 12, and includingflanged edges 13 for connection to adjacent flanges of identicalsegments 12, but in this instance the segments 12 are formed of fo- 'URE2 between the sides 23.

raminous material which is porcelain enamel coated and of sufiicientstrength to support hogs thereupon. The panels or segments 12 are inturn suitably supported at their outer portions by engagement with thewall 3 and at their inner portions engage a tubular member 14, whichmember surrounds an opening formed by the inner ends of the segments 12and is in contact with a ring 15 to which the inner ends of the segments12 are in turn fastened. The ring 15 is in turn connected by suitablyupwardly extending brace members 16 to an upper exfloor are provided inturn a series of upstanding posts 20:

spaced far enough from the wall 3 so as toprovide a passagewaythereabout of circular nature, and suitably spaced inwardly therefrom at21 are other posts which are engaged with flanges such as 22 at theirlower ends, the posts 20 being similarly engaged with similar flanges22.

As will be observed, a number of these posts 26 and 21 are arrangedaround the floor 7 and extend upwardly therefrom, certain of thesemembers, in pairs as indicated in FIGURE 2 providing a pen having thesides 23 therefor, such sides being comprised of tubular parts includingan upper rail 24, a lower rail 25 and a series of vertically extendingtubular rails 26 extending therebetween and fastened thereto in anysuitable manner.

A further tubular part 27 extends between one of the Vertical rails 26and a further tubular member 28 which surrounds the posts 20, a tubularmember 29 at the inner end of the side 23 being similarly arranged andmovable on the vertical post 21. It will thus be understood that thesides 23, one of which has just been described, are susceptible ofsliding upwardly and downwardly on the posts 20 and 21, there beingsuitable connecting members such as 30 extending transversely asindicated in FIG- Thus basically the sides 23 and parts 30 will besusceptible of movement upwardly and downwardly as a unit and ifdesirably moved upwardly so as to provide a clear space beneath thesame, in contrast to the position shown in FIGURE 1, suitable means tomaintain the sides of the pen in the raised position will be provided inthe form of pins which may extend through the posts 20 and 21 the pinsbeing designated 31 and movable into openings provided in the posts 20and 21 as will be readily understood.

A suitable gate structure at 32, specifically the outer end of the penjust heretofore described, will be provided so that it may be opened andmaintained in shut position to confine a sow within the pen and yetpermit the sow to lie down for nursing purposes when the small pigs areborn. The farrowing pen which comprises the parts described heretofore,is in and of itself not specifically new but arranged in the radialmanner, permits the proper circulation of the small pigs thereabout, andin order to confine the pigs with respect to each individual sow,suitable pen sides 33 are provided and arranged so that the same may bemoved upwardly and downwardly in channels 34 and 35, the outer and innerends respectively of such side pen parts 33. The pen sides 33 will besolid in the sense that they are sheet like members and they may bemaintained in their upwardly arranged position by suitable pins such asthe pins 31 and these pins in this case being designated 36. It will beunderstood that the channels 34 and 35 are suitably fastened to theposts 269 and 21 respectively and provide for the raising of the sides33 when it is desired to provide a clear space therebeneath for generalcirculation of all of the pigs in a particular barn or enclosure asherein being described. it is also feasible to provide closure parts 33extending between the posts 2%, these members 33 being removable as maybe occasioned by the necessity to provide a clear circulating area or tohave access to the small pigs therewithin.

It is to be understood that all of the various pens, of which there are10 in number positioned around the center of the enclosure and thusarranged radially, are substantially identical although one may becompletely omitted in order to provide access to the interior or cedingarea which will now be described.

As will be understood from a consideration of FIG- URE 1, a central areagenerally designated dd is provided, this being known as the feed areaand having certain feeding means therewithin specifically including afeed trough 41 of channel-like nature, extending around the area andbeing suitably fastened to the inner posts 21 so as to be supported atany preferred hegiht above the floor 7.

Positioned beneath the trough and having access thereto are suitablefeders 42, being substantially identical and providing for the droppingdown therewithin of feed and access thereto by raising a cover such asindicated in FIGURE 1 at 43.

This arrangement will provide means to feed the pigs either from the penareas which have been described, or in the event the pen areas arearranged so that the pen parts are above the floor and thus afford freecirculation of the pigs, the inner portions of these feeders includesimilar doors 44 to the door 4-3 previously mentioned to provide accessthereto.

In addition it should be noted that whereas one of these pen areas maybe omitted in order to provide access to the feeding area 49, this willin turn provide access by the small pigs or any pigs in fact to the feeddoors 4d and thus a greater quantity of feed be made available for thehogs as they grow older.

A suitable water trough may be provided along side the member covered bythe cover 43 and receive its water by reason of a ring of pipe indicatedat 45 and being supported at the upper ends of the posts 21, the Watersupply being directed thereto in any preferred manner not specificallyshown and being carried therefrom by suitable piping which will beunderstood by those skilled in the art.

In order to supply feed to the trough 41, a suitable feed bin is shownas being of generally conical nature and supported at the top of theconical roof 4, such feed bin being connected to the roof and in turnsupported from a tubular member or central support 51 by means of thebraces 52 extending therefrom and connected in any preferred manner tothe wall 53 of the bin 50.

The lower end of the bin 50 is open and adapted to direct feed into adistributor hopper 54 of cylindrical nature, supported on suitablebearing means 55 likewise fastened to the central support 51 in a mannerto facilitate the rotation of the distributor 54. The distributor means54 include a tubular supply member 56 extending out of the bottomthereof, the bottom being angled as indicated at 57 to cause the feed tomove into the tube 55 and thence downwardly to the trough 41 previouslymentioned.

Extending upwardly into the lower portion of the bin 7 50 is an agitatorarm 58 which rotates. with the distributor member 54 and breaks up thefeed which might have a tendency to bridge at the lower end of the bin50 if this was not provided.

In order to drive the distributor means 54, a suitable motor 60 isprovided, suspended from a bracket 61 attached to the wall 53 of the bin5i and by means of a suitable reduction gear s2, and chain and sprocketconnection 63 which extends around the distributing means 54, efiect therotation desired. In order to control the operation of the motor 60 byreason of the. condition of the feed or quantity of feed in the trough41, a suitable pressure switch 64 is provided mounted in the trough sothat as the feed reaches a certain height it actuates the same and bymeans of suitable connections to the motor regulate the rotation of themeans 54 and supply of feed therethrough. Suitable slip ring connectionsuch as 65 may be advantageously supplied for this purpose.

In order to supply feed to the bin 50, a suitable cover 66 is providedand arranged so that a conveyor can direct feed through the opening 5provided in the roof 4.

The central support 51 is a large diameter tube as previously suggested,and is carried on the upper end of the support extension 17, acting as astructural member as Well as a means for ventilating the interior of theenclosure or barn here being described.

For the purposes hereof, the lower end of the tube 51 is perforated orprovided with a series of holes 67 of suitable size and in suflicientquantity to enablealarge volume of air to be directed therethrough, andarranged to slide upwardly and downwardly over the outside of the tube51 is a suitable hood- 68 which may effectively collect the air in theinterior of the enclosure and direct it to the openings previouslymentioned.

In addition a sleeve 69 may be provided so that it can be slid upwardlyand downwardly and thus regulate the number of holes 67 exposed andproviding for movement of air therethrough. The sleeve 69 may befrictionally engaged with the tube 51 or in any other manner suitablyarranged to provide for positioning in various positions thereabout andthus the amount of air escaping through the member 51.

At the upper end the member 51 may be provided with a suitable fan 70which will in turn exhaust the air through a hood 71.

In order to provide for a supply of air to the interior of the barn, thewall 3 or side 3 may be provided with a series of inlet pipes 72, inwhich dampers of any preferred form indicated at 73 may be supplied andthe dampers susceptible of positioning to regulate the amount of airflowing through the tubes 72. The tubes 72 may likewise be equipped withsuitable filtering means in the form of filter material 74 for variouspurposes. The necessity to provide air to the interior of the buildingwill be readily understood and it will be controllable by these members72 in conjunction with further members 75 provided below the floor 7 andof the same configuration and including the same elements as the member72 just previously mentioned and specifically a damper 76 therein withsuitable filtering material 77 likewise being provided.

With the foregoing arrangement it will be understood therefore that thevarying weather conditions suitable draft may be induced through theopenings provided by the members 75 and escape of the air by circulatingmeans through the openings 67 in the tube 51 thence upwardly andoutwarrdly through the hood 71. Conversely where it is desired tomaintain the temperature within the enclosure at a somewhat higherlevel, the members 75 may be closed by the damper 76 therein, and themembers 72 opened to provide enough air for air supply purposes and yetmaintain the temperature at the lower portion of the enclosure at asuitably high enough elevation to prevent any ill effects on small pigstherewithin. This of course may be varied in accordance with the varyingconditions and regulation of the flow of air effected by adjustment ofthe sleeve 69 over the opening 67 as well as the hood 68 in conjunctiontherewith.

The construction and operation of the manure removal means whichinvolves broadly manure collecting means which are arranged beneath thefloor '7, embodying as these means do, certain novel instrumentalitiesfor elimihating a very material percentage of the manual labor usuallyinvolved in such operations.

Referring therefore to FIGURE I particularly, it will be seen that ascrew conveyor member 84) extends radially from the center support 2,and is adapted to be revolved therearound by suitable motor 81 which ismounted on a bracket 82, the bracket in turn being suitably supportedfor rotation upon collar or bearing members 83. The motor 81 drive aV-belt 84 which in turn operates a pulley arranged on the shaft 85around which the screw flights 86 are supported. This screw ispreferably a flexible or rubber screw member and by reason of rotationof the same will also be compelled to move bodily about the centersupport 2 as a pivot, the rotation of the screw itself being such as tocause the manure to be deposited in the sump 10 previously referred to.

As'indicated in FIGURES 3 and 4, the sump 10 is arranged in such amanner that the manure will be in turn caused to move onto a furtherscrew conveyor member 87 including the conduit 88 in which the conveyormember is adapted to rotate and further having a screw member 89rotatable therewithin by means of a suitable motor 90 and connected inany preferred manner to a suitable source of current supply.

The screw 89 will pick up the manure deposit in the sump 10 and transferit to the left as viewed in FIG- URE 1 into another manure collectingunit to be described more particularly subsequently and denoted 91. Bothliquids and solids are directed to and through the screw conveyor '89and to the collector unit 91.

As viewed in FIGURE 5 and likewise in FIGURE 1, the collector 91includes a trough-like member 92 at the bottom of which is a collectorarea or section 93, with a suitable outlet 94 .to permit liquids toescape therefrom and confining the sol-ids within the compressor unit 95to be subsequently described.

The unit 91 is arranged so as to collect all of the manure in an areathrough which all of the hogs are directed on their way into the barn,this area being designated 96 and availed of to keep records, and toprovide for washing the animals preliminary to their confinement in theclosure and subsequent thereto if necessary. The shed-like part 96includes the floor 97 of foraminous nature and porcelain en'amelled asis the floor 7 with an entrance being provided at 98 to provide accessto this shed 96 and through the shed 96 and an opening 99 therein intothe interior of the enclosure in general.

Adver-ting now to FIGURE 5, the compressor unit 95 is comprised of aconduit 100 in which is arranged a screw conveyor consisting of threesections, a section 161 of a fairly low pitch, a section 102 of steeperpitch and a section 103 of much steeper pitch with respect to theflights thereof. Therefore as the solids are moved by the flight 101,into the part 102 and thence to the part 103, because the exit end ofthis conduit 100 denoted at 104 is vrestricted gradually, the solids arecompel-led to be compressed therewithin and permit all of the liquid toflow downwardly and out through the opening 94 with the solids incompressed state being ejected from the nozzle end 104 at 105. Here thematerial now compressed may be packaged or otherwise removed forfertilizing purposes.

As indicated in FIGURE 1, the shed enclosure 96 is supported byconnection to the wall 3 and on a post such as 106 the floor being ofany preferred construction in general and obviously arranged to supportpeople having occasion to walk t-hereover.

In view of the foregoing it will be understood that all of the variousnecessary functions involved in raising hogs from the time of farrowingthrough the period of fattening and until they are ready for market, hasbeen provided for in the disclosure hereinbefore set forth in detail,and in such a manner that the units are small enough and yet economicalenough to operate as to reduce the possibility and even likelihood ofdisease doing any substantial damage, by reason of the fact particularlyof course that the sanitary conditions and the living conditions underwhich the hogs must be raised are superior in all aspects to thosepresently known and availed of.

Iclaim: i

1. In a stock barn of the class described, in combination, a mainenclosure, a series of radially arranged stock pens therein, said pen-shaving a common foraminous floor therefor, central feeding means forsaid pens adjacent.

the axis about which they are located, a central axial structuralsupport connected to said'floor and feeding means, manure. collectingmeans beneath the foraminous floor aforesaid, means to convey the manureaway from the collecting means, the central feeding means comprise ing afeed bin supported centrally above the pens by a support extendingthrough said bin, distributing means arranged to receive feed from saidbin and operable about saidsupport, trough means to receive feed fromthe distributing means, feed hoppers connected to'the trough means toreceive feed therefrom, means to carry feed from the distributing meansto the trough means aforesaid, a central support extending through thefeed bin,

said support providing for exhaust of air through the same, said binsupported on said' support, said distributing hopper carried by thesupport, and means carried by and operable on rotation of the hopper toagitate feed therein to prevent bridging thereof.

2. In a stock barn of the class described, in combination, a mainenclosure, a series of radially arranged stock pens therein, :said penshaving a common foramin'ous floor therefor, central feeding meansforsaid pens adjacent the axis aboutwhich they are located, a centralaxial structural support connected to said floor and feeding means,manure collecting means beneath the foraminous floor aforesaid, means toconvey the manure away from the collecting means, said support providingthe support for the floor-s aforesaid, said'support likewise extendingthrough and upporting portions of the feeding means, said supportfurther including means to regulate ventilation of the enclosure,whereby heated air is exhausted from the enclosure. I

3. The combination as claimed in claim .2, wherein a generally conicalroof extends from the enclosure, the central support includes anenlarged tubular member extending upwardly centrally of the enclosurethrough the roof thereof connected thereto and providing structuralsupport therefor, openings are formed in the member near the lower endthereof to provide for air flow into the member, means are provided toregulate flow through said openings, and hood means are positioned atthe upper end of said member.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein the enclosure isprovided with a series of'air supply openings in the wall thereof aboveand below the forarninous floor and means to regulate ai-r flow throughsaid openings.

5. In a stock barn of the class described, in combination, a mainenclosure having a substantially circular wall therefor, a series ofsupport parts spaced beneath said wall, a central support, a solid fioorcarried at its periphery on said supports and at its center on saidcenter support, a foram-inou-s floor spaced above and coextensive withthe solid floor and similarly supported, said foraminous floor in turnsupporting a series of radially arranged pens thereon, central feedingmeans in said enclosure at the inner ends of the pens aforesaid, aconical roof engaged at its periphery with the wall and extendingupwardly toward the center, means extending upwardly from the centralsupport for supporting at least a portion of the central feeding means,said means comprising .a tubu- 'l-ar part, said part having ventilatingopenings Within the enclosure and extending through the roof, whereby toprovide for air passage, means to regulate the ventilating openings, anda hood means at the upper end of the part.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 5, wherein the central feedingmeans include a bin, the bin is at least partially'supported on thetubular part, and feed delivery means are likewise rotatably supportedon said part,

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCESIllinois Research Bulletin, vol. 3, No. 3, page 7, summer 196 1,University of Illinois, College of Ag.

Wallaces Farmer Publication, January 20, 1962, page 39, Reprint Univ. ofIllinois.

Iowa State Univ., Farm Science Publication, March 1962, vol. 16, No. 9,page 136.

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner. ALDRICH F. MEDBERY, Examiner.

2. IN A STOCK BARN OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED, IN COMBINATION, A MAINENCLOSURE, A SERIES OF RADIALLY ARRANGED STOCK PENS THEREIN, SAID PENSHAVING A COMMON FORAMINOUS FLOOR, THEREFOR, CENTRAL FEEDING MEANS FORSAID PENS ADJACENT THE AXIS ABOUT WHICH THEY ARE LOCATED, A CENTRALAXIAL STRUCTURAL SUPPORT CONNECTED TO SAID FLOOR AND FEEDING MEANS,MANURE COLLECTING MEANS BENEATH THE FORAMINOUS FLOOR AFORESAID, MEANS TOCONVEY THE MANURE AWAY FROM THE COLLECTING MEANS, SAID SUPPORT PROVIDINGTHE SUPPORT FOR THE FLOORS AFORESAID, SAID SUPPORT LIKEWISE EXTENDINGTHROUGH AND SUPPORTING PORTIONS OF THE FEEDING MEANS, SAID SUPPORTFURTHER INCLUDING MEANS TO REGULATE VENTILATION OF THE ENCLOSURE,WHEREBY HEATED AIR IS EXHAUSTED FROM THE ENCLOSURE.